PanMass Challenge (PMC)

Register Jan 2019 for TeamBrentWheels August 2019 PMC ride.

We are proud to be a part of the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC), the nation's original fundraising bike-a-thon. The PMC has contributed a whopping 598 million dollars to fight cancer, the largest sum ever contributed to a charity by an athletic fundraising event. Donate to our cause - every single cent gets passed on to research. 100%!!!!

For TeamBrentWheels first PMC in 2005, we had nine riders. Brent wasn't cheering from Da Hedge or Truro, he was in the hospital having his 2nd bone marrow transplant. Time has flown by. TBW has had 149 different riders since then, averaging three PMCs each, including five families of neuroblastoma survivors. We’ve hitchhiked to the start line, crashed some bikes, doled out advice to Tour de France champions, climbed the Hollands Alps, had more than a few Harpoons and shared a lot of laughs.

The 192 miles of the PMC are filled with people who line the streets with families and friends, playing music, banging on pots, spraying riders with hoses, and holding signs saying, “I am 11 now because of you.” and “My heart beats because of your feet.” Their “Thank You” signs really make you understand that what we do makes a difference. Last year we witnessed a father riding a tandem bike by himself. The seat behind him was empty in honor of his son, lost to cancer. Then there are the people who stand alone at the side of the road, with nobody else in sight, clapping for hours. That says volumes about how meaningful this event is. Cancer doesn’t have a chance – each rider, donor and volunteer brings us Closer By the Mile…to a Cure.

The PMC will donate 100% of every rider-raised dollar directly to the cause. That means exactly what it sounds like – if someone gives $40 for the ride, all $40 goes exactly where it should be going – to life saving research to keep people from dying of cancer. Every single cent to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI).

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Overheard....

Ian Murray, CEO/Co-founder, Vineyard Vines (TeamBrentWheels' PMC sponsor) says "We feel so honored to work with TeamBrent. It's amazing to see how they've brought the community together."

Billy Starr, Founder/Executive Director, The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge says "TeamBrent typifies how effective a motivated constituency can be when they work together toward a common goal. The team is a fundraising force that has galvanized a township in Connecticut."

Lisa Diller, Clinical Director of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital; Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School says "I am inspired each year when I hear about TeamBrent helping my colleagues and me at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital fight childhood cancer. Please know we appreciate all that you do!"

Roger Haney, Executive Director, TeamBrentWheels says "Being a part of TeamBrentWheels and the PMC is nothing short of amazing. The team is much more than just a group of folks coming together to fight a horrible disease - it has grown into a Big Family that rides hard, laughs harder, and sheds a tear or two. I will always look forward to the first weekend in August."

Neuroblastoma is a disease of young children which requires extremely aggressive therapies to cure. Just over half the children with high risk neuroblastoma are cured (a huge improvement from the 20% when we started, but horrible nonetheless).

Team funds have helped create a personalized approach for relapsed neuroblastoma patients at DFCI (and are getting close to personalized upfront approach); are helping to launch a vaccine to fight neuroblastoma; and helped build a dedicated treatment room to deliver targeted MIBG/radiotherapy program to relapsed Neuroblastoma children - and so much more. This research team at DFCI/BCH has really made a difference, with hundreds of children being treated thanks to therapies provided by our small team. This is huge, this is real, and this is wonderful.

Laurie H. Glimcher, DFCI President and CEO, said “Progress against cancer comes in waves: As new therapies come to the fore, others take shape in the distance. It’s this continuum that makes our work so challenging, and so rewarding.” Look at Brent to see how this holds true for our team. Brent was treated 14 years ago with genomics- chemotherapy, radiation, stem cell transplants. TBW riders have helped fund immunotherapy treatments (MIGB, GVAX). Yet even as we further those learnings, we are studying promising epigenetics treatments (ANTI-GD2, MYCN, TRK). http://www.dana-farber.org/newsroom/publications/paths-of-progress-2018/

Brent has been disease free for 13+ years, but the fight goes on. Our 2018 team of 50 riders rode for our seven Pedal Partner neuroblastoma survivors – living proof that your efforts make a difference.